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| He is crazy, silly, and loves to make his students laugh! |
Whether our kids are preschoolers or teenagers, gifted or special needs, etc, teachers are a part of our lives, so I thought how great would it be for Dan to answer some questions from real moms??
Let's hear from Mr. Boyle!!
What Back to School tips can you share to start the year off right?
There
are so many tips I’ve gathered and valued over the years and would love to
share, but here are some of the ones I feel are most important:
- Review all information. Review the material sent by the school as soon as it arrives.
- Check the calendar. Make a note of important dates. This is especially important if you have children in more than one school and need to juggle obligations.
- Have a plan for homework. Having a predictable routine for homework will take the homework stress off or your child. (See below for some more specifics!)
- Re-establish the bedtime and dinner time routines. Prepare your child for this change by talking with your child about the benefits of school routines in terms of not becoming over tired or overwhelmed by school work and activities.
- Turn off the TV. Encourage your child to play quiet games, do puzzles, flash cards, color, or read as early morning activities instead of watching television. This will help ease your child into the learning process and school routine. Television is distracting for many children, and your child will arrive at school better prepared to learn each morning if he or she has engaged in less passive activities.
- Select a spot to keep backpacks and lunch boxes. Designate a spot for your children to place their school items as well as a place to put important notices and information sent home for you to see. Explain that emptying their backpack each evening is part of their responsibility, even for young children.
- Make lunches the night before school.
- Set alarm clocks. Have school-age children set their own alarm clocks to get up in the morning. Praise them for prompt response to morning schedules and bus pickups.
- Leave plenty of extra time. Make sure your child has plenty of time to get up, eat breakfast, and get to school.
- Review your child’s schoolbooks. Talk about what your child will be learning during the year. Share your enthusiasm for the subjects and your confidence in your child’s ability to master the content. Reinforce the natural progression of the learning process that occurs over the school year. Learning skills take time and repetition. Encourage your child to be patient, attentive, and positive.
- Send a brief note to your child’s teacher. Let the teachers know that you are interested in getting regular feedback on how and what your child is doing in school. Be sure to attend back-to-school night and introduce yourself to the teachers. Find out how they like to communicate with parents (see below). Convey a sincere desire to be a partner with your children’s teachers to enhance their learning experience.
- Familiarize yourself with the other school professionals. Make an effort to find out who it is in the school or district who can be a resource for you and your child. Learn their roles and how best to access their help if you need them. This can include the principal and front office personnel; school psychologist, counselor, and social worker; the reading specialist, speech therapist, and school nurse; and the after-school activities coordinator.
How do I best support my child with their homework?
There are many great
suggestions for parents who desire to support their child with homework
completion. One such is to designate and
clear a place to do homework. Older children should have the option of
studying in their room or a quiet area of the house. Younger children usually
need an area set aside in the family room or kitchen to facilitate adult
monitoring, supervision, and encouragement.
Or, in some family situations it may even be best to have all children
in a central location easily monitored by a parent. Another idea is to keep your child’s homework
work area stocked with school supplies for the house. Having pencils, paper, etc. readily available
will cut down on time wasted while working.
Organizing homework and setting a timetable should be considered
too. Help your child list out assignments
needing to be done. Sometimes starting
with assignments that will take the shortest amount of time to complete is a
good idea because then the child will experience satisfaction of completion
more quickly! Also, make sure they have
their needed materials from school before getting started (math book, Language
Arts notebook, etc.). If a child knows
that they have everything needed to complete the homework right at their
fingertips, getting started will take less time. Then finally, I would encourage the use of a
time system. Sometimes students need
homework broken down into fixed amounts of time so that they do not feel so overwhelmed
with the tasks. Set a timer (out of
their view otherwise they focus only on that) and give breaks to help maintain
focus and to encourage completion in a timely manner.
Can you elaborate on parents asking teacher for preferred
method of communication, as well as when they can expect to hear back from the
teacher?
I believe that there is nothing wrong in asking
how a teacher would like to best communicate.
The common methods include email, phone call, handwritten note, or even
face-to-face and knowing what works best and most efficient for both the
teacher and parent will make their relationship that much stronger for the
school year. Also, be sure to ask the teacher in what time-frame you can expect their response to your question/concern. This simple question will give you both realistic expectations as you begin to work together. I stress to families the
importance of open communication. If the
teacher and parent are on the same page, it can only help the student be more
successful! It takes positive collaboration
between teacher AND parent AND student (think of a triangular
relationship) to move the student in a forward direction!
What is the biggest challenge you see with the current
culture in our schools? Unfortunately, I see the instant satisfaction
or instant gratification mentality to be the biggest challenge in school. With the exponentially fast changes in
technology, we all (students, teachers, parents included) have the ability to
have any information needed readily available at our fingertips. While I probably wouldn’t trade that for
anything, what I see happening is a decrease in students’ desire to think both
critically and abstractly, and to reason through situations. I so often dislike seeing the “just give me
the answer” or the “let’s hurry up and just get this done” thought processes
that have increased because students want instant information. I know in my class, we do use calculators,
and of course that speeds things up.
But, I cannot stress enough to them the “how” and “why”… something a
calculator cannot answer! In wanting it
“now,” the “how” and “why” often can be overlooked and so with that, so too
then is that ability to think on a deeper level. We have to bring back the importance of
understanding, not just possessing information.
After all, in some way or shape, we are lifelong learners.
Since you teach in the public schools and can’t openly share
your faith, what are other ways that you try to be a light in your school?
Not being able to openly share is a bummer for
sure, so I have to compensate for that and make it a point to be different in a
way that I hope points to Jesus! I
strive to be extremely relational… so much so that a child will, I hope,
wonder, “Why is this guy so different” and I hope that they ask!!! I make it a point to know each in every
student in ways that go beyond 6th grade math. I want them to know that I care about their
whole self. I want attend some of their extracurricular
activities, I want to go to phys. ed. class or recess with them often to play with them or against them (it's great getting those 6th graders riled up!). I want to ask them about
their siblings I formerly had. I want to
go the extra mile and make calls or send emails to families to praise the great
things their child is doing in school. I
even like to run errands and shop in my district, hoping to see students, past and present, and
families, just so that I get the chance to talk to them outside of the school
environment. These are all fun and
positive; but, also just as important, I want to know the struggles my students
may be going through too. I want to meet
them and help them wherever they may be at.
Of course, with a professional balance, I want to be more than a
teacher. I want to be teacher, mentor,
and most importantly, someone that one day they can call “friend,” someone they
can always turn to. Coming back and
visiting is expected!!
I suspect that my child may have a learning disability,
where do I start to seek support for my child?
Great question!
First, I would encourage you to meet with teacher of the particular
subject (typically math or language arts) and share your concerns. With your concerns validated, the teacher
should introduce a tier one intervention - something that can be done with any
student in the class. During this intervention,
the teacher should be collecting measurable data on your child’s progress. Then based
on that info, either the data will show that the intervention is working, thus,
showing that is all the support your child will continue to need, or it will
show that it is not working well enough and that a tier two intervention should
be put in place. This tier two
intervention should be specific to your child’s needs and more in depth. After further data at this level is
collected, a school intervention team, along with you the parent, should review
it. If now progress is occurring, continue
that intervention. But, if no progress
is being made, at this point a suspicion of a disability meeting should happen
and testing may begin.
Being an advocate for my child is challenging, do you have
any words of encouragement for parents who find themselves needing to advocate
for their child?
This one is easy! I have an answer to this thanks to my wife’s relentless
spirit in advocating for our two special needs children. My answer is to be diligent! Ultimately you know your child best so therefore
you do what is best for your child! As a
parent of special needs children, I have been on both sides of this
situation. I understand how challenging
being an advocate can be. As an educator
I have learned to be grateful for parents who advocate for their child. Speaking up shows that you care! I would much rather have a classroom of 30
students with 30 engaged parents than 30 students with 30 disengaged parents! Yes it may be more work for me (e-mails,
meetings, paperwork, etc.); but, ultimately, when parents and teachers
collaborate, the students benefit.
Many thanks to my wonderful, amazing, gifted, caring, compassionate husband, Mr. Dan Boyle! Have a blessed 2014-15 school year, my love! I am so incredibly proud and humbled to be your wife! XOXO!!
Moms, have a blessed school year too! Don't forget to pray with your children before school and bless them before they walk out of the door! We need to believe that they are missionaries cleverly disguised as students...AMEN!!!
Many Blessings,
Christine
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